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Psychological research on Twitter reveals who tweets, how much, what they talk about and why. There are now 190 million Twitter users around the world producing 65 million tweets each day. 19% of US internet users now say they use Twitter or a similar service to share updates about themselves-double the figure from the previous year (Pew, 2009).

Nov 14, Medicine & Health/Psychology & Psychiatry Experts have questioned whether Internet addiction constitutes a psychological disorder and an Arlington, Va., group may add it to its diagnostic manual. Members of the American Psychiatric Association have said the organization may include Internet addiction in its next guidebook, while experts debate whether the issue constitutes a psychological problem, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

So what does this have to do with the psychology of cyberspace? There are two basic ways the internet tends to create division in one's life and identity. First, people tend to separate their online lives from their offline lives. You may have online companions, groups, and activities that are quite distinct from those you have in the face-to-face world.

This study used an experiment embedded within a Web-based survey to examine the influence of contextual (i.e., face-to-face vs. online chat room discussion) and social-psychological factors on individuals' willingness to express opinions. In this experiment, respondents were asked whether they would be willing to express an opinion if they were placed in a face-to-face discussion group in one condition and in an online chat room discussion group in the other condition.

Our self-identities, that is, how we define and see ourselves as unique individuals, play a vital role in who we are and the direction that our lives take. The self-identity encompasses the totality of knowledge and understanding that we gain about ourselves as we develop including our personalities, aptitudes and capabilities, intellectual and physical attributes, interests, and relationships.